The Good Part of the Bad Trip

First, a bit of housekeeping. You may have noticed that there haven’t been any July updates to the website yet. Finishing the library article and updating the site was the plan for last Sunday. If you read yesterday’s blog, you know that I was traveling on Sunday instead. I will be getting to the updates as I grab time here and there over the next few days. Those next few days, however, do not include tomorrow. As it is Independence Day -- a day I traditionally sleep in to be rested enough for some serious grilling in the evening -- there will be no blog entry. I’ll be back on Thursday.

Now, for the good part of my trip.

As revealed in earlier entries, I had traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina to present Youth Development: A Winning Hand at Haven House Services (you’ll find their web link on the North Carolina page of the Youth Program Directory). What I haven’t revealed -- at least, not as much as it deserves -- is how impressed I am with both the program and the people who work there. Of course, that may seem like a bit of a redundancy, as programs generally are the people. But, redundancy or not, this is one good combination of people and programs.

I don’t usually highlight programs in my blog, mostly because I don’t want to create some sort of de facto ‘rating system’ where not mentioning a program I visit means that I disapprove. However, I’m mentioning Haven House Services -- specifically the Runaway and Homeless Youth services offered by Haven House -- because they are doing some very unique things in the area of Youth Development that may be worth your time to look into.

For example, Program Director Matt Schnars has developed an innovative supervision tool to keep Youth Development in the forefront of his staff’s interactions with young people. Along with focusing on standard supervision concerns, staff is asked to speak to their efforts toward integrating protective factors into their interactions with young people. There is also a very creative boxing program that is focused less on sparring, and more on the physical and mental discipline required by boxers. Called Second Round, the program is a co-ed example of Youth Development in action. I was honored to have the opportunity to witness the program in operation, and can only say that this is a model program that deserves to be better known.

My point in sharing all of this is to let you know that there is a great resource out there for you to contact. If you are looking to share ideas and information with a RHY program that is on the cutting edge of Youth Development creativity, contact Matt Schnars at mschnars@havenhousenc.org . Tell him Jerry sent you ;-)